I just got an elbow that was 3/4" threaded on one side and 1/2" smooth on the other. It seems like it might fit ok when the nut is screwed on first without doing any trimming. I'll see how it flows with a quick test run tomorrow.

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My first bottling went pretty smoothly today, thanks for all of the tips Revvy. Just for the record, my dip tube was a PVC elbow 3/4" threaded on one side and 1/2" slip on the other and it seemed to perform well. I was using the bottling Ale Pail. The only small problem I had is that the bottling wand would occasionally get stuck spraying beer, but it could have been a lot worse. Now comes the hard part.... waiting for weeks to drink it

My first bottling went pretty smoothly today, thanks for all of the tips Revvy. Just for the record, my dip tube was a PVC elbow 3/4" threaded on one side and 1/2" slip on the other and it seemed to perform well. I was using the bottling Ale Pail. The only small problem I had is that the bottling wand would occasionally get stuck spraying beer, but it could have been a lot worse. Now comes the hard part.... waiting for weeks to drink it

I just did my first Saturday and had the same problem with the wand.

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I wish it were winter so we could freeze it into ice blocks and skate on it and melt it in the spring time and drink it!

If yours is like mine then its the kind that doesn't have a spring in it, instead it relys on the force of the beer coming down the wand to close the valve. And of course the closer the wand is to the bucket the less pressure is created by the beer. But I've gotten carefull not to knock the tip of the wand off center when pulling the bottle down and out and I can do it now with very little malfunctions (I'd still rather have the spring type though).

If yours is like mine then its the kind that doesn't have a spring in it, instead it relys on the force of the beer coming down the wand to close the valve. And of course the closer the wand is to the bucket the less pressure is created by the beer. But I've gotten carefull not to knock the tip of the wand off center when pulling the bottle down and out and I can do it now with very little malfunctions (I'd still rather have the spring type though).

That definitely describes mine. I figured it was just going into the corner of the bottle too much and catching kind of awkwardly.

I did a trial run with water the day before and it worked okay but the bottling wand seemed to drip a lot. When I ran it with the beer there was very little dripping, just this problem I mentioned earlier. I'll have to check at Friar Tuck's for the spring loaded ones next time I am there. However, I guess the spring will probably get corroded and cause problems down the road...